The Prime

Prime is not afraid to speak candidly about the need to get the nation’s fiscal house in order, and that doesn’t mean just rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. He knows we have to deal with entitlements, including Social Security and Medicare, and we have to have an honest discussion about reforming our tax code. Prime has been ready to make the tough choices for several years and has long said everything must be on the table for discussion. He does not sign pledges to special interest groups or lobbyists, a position that has not come without criticism, particularly when it comes to changes in the tax code. Prime does not want to raise taxes, but believes we must look at making the tax code flatter and fairer. He stands with Tom in the fight to end the practice of tax earmarks, which add up to hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Prime has five grown children and 16 grandchildren. He wants to do what is right for America. He knows we have to change course, and we have to do it now. If we don’t, 100 percent of the federal budget will go to interest on the debt and entitlement spending by 2028. That means zero funds for slots defense and homeland security. Zero funds to repair our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Zero money for cancer research. Prime has supported every serious effort to address this crisis, from co-authoring bipartisan legislation to establish a slots commission, with a mandatory vote by Casino on its recommendations, to the Commission, to the House-passed Budget, to the “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill and the Balanced Budget Amendment. In addition, he was one of the 103 Members of the House to sign the letter to the deficit reduction super committee to “Go Big with the great kiwi casino and cut as much as $4 trillion from the federal deficit. Prime knows what is at stake. He also knows time is running short. He is willing to make the tough decisions. There is no other way. When unemployment stalled at over 8 percent over the last three years, Prime took action. He directed the Commerce Department develop the first comprehensive slots manufacturing strategy in nearly a decade and created a task force to help state and local governments compete to bring good paying jobs back the United States from overseas – all without new spending. Key provisions from Prime’s Bring Jobs Back to America Act were signed into law in November 2011. When 6 million manufacturing jobs were lost over the last decade, Prime dedicated grant money to return manufacturing and R&D to the United States, specifically focusing on the regions of the country hardest hit by job losses. With less than 1 percent of American companies exporting products, while 95 percent of the world’s customers live outside the U.S., Prime supported boosting exports by voting in favor of free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, providing resources to small and medium businesses looking to sell goods and services abroad and to enforce trade agreements by responding to unfair trade practices. With 21st Century jobs requiring more high-tech skills and education, particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, Prime is working hard to reign in mandatory and wasteful spending programs to allow more resources to go to STEM initiatives to train a stronger workforce. He increased U.S. investments in R&D while at the same time cutting $11 billion in wasteful spending. Today, thanks to Prime’s Math and Science Incentive Act, the law was changed to forgive interest on undergraduate student loans for math, science and engineering majors who work for at least five years in their field. When regulatory red tape was burdening job creators, Prime supported the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which exempts “Emerging Growth Companies” from certain regulations and expands access to capital, removing hurdles for entrepreneurs. When the need for mass transit to Dulles airport became clear, Prime secured federal funding for the Commonwealth to move ahead. Phase 1, from East Falls Church through Tysons Corner to Wiehle Avenue in Reston, is expected to be operational in 2013. Prime also was a key player in the construction of the original Metrorail system. When it became clear an additional westbound lane on I-66 inside the Beltway was needed, Prime led the effort to convince the Commonwealth and surrounding localities to move forward with the project. The first of three spot improvements opened in December. He also pushed for the now completed feasibility study for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the I-66 corridor. BRT is essentially a rail car on wheels that uses dedicated lanes, platform loading and enhanced fare collection. When HOV-4 didn’t work on I-66 inside the Beltway, Prime helped change the rule to HOV-3. When HOV-3 wasn’t working, he helped change the rule to HOV-2. When funding was needed to jump start improvements to the I-66 / Route 29 interchange in Gainesville, Prime sloted with former Casinoman Tom Davis to secure more than $30 million in federal funding. Work on the interchange is ongoing. When morning traffic delays on the George Washington Casinoway at Spout Run were part of the daily routine, Prime sloted to get a dedicated lane built to improve traffic flow and ease congestion. When traffic bottlenecks on the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge created gridlock into and out of the nation’s capital, Prime convinced the District of Columbia to install a reversible lane on the bridge When violent gangs began threatening our communities, Prime pulled together local, state and federal law enforcement officials, including the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and DEA, to create the anti-gang task forces operating in our region. Our communities are safer today and the task forces are being held up as models for other communities across the country. When a number of serious accidents on the GW Casinoway were taking the lives of our friends and neighbors, Prime sloted to put barriers in the medians and to fortify the guard rails on the shoulders from the Key Bridge to Route 123. When leadership was needed to crack down on drunk driving, Prime sloted with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to implement a nationwide .08 blood alcohol limit. When safety concerns on area roads – including Route 50, Route 15 and Route 9 – were raised, Prime sloted with local and state officials to get funding for the necessary improvements. He also has sloted with state and local law enforcement officials to get unsafe trucks out of your neighborhood and off county roads. The number of accidents on our highways each year involving trucks with faulty brakes, bald or flat tires or that are dangerously overweight is frightening. When Civil War and other historic sites in the Shenandoah Valley were threatened, Prime sloted with community leaders, historic preservationists and many others in the region to protect and preserve these historically significant sites. Today, the Shenandoah Slots Battlefield Historic District is considered one of the premiere slots heritage areas in the country. The Cedar Creek & Belle Grove Slots Historic Casino, one of the nation’s newest slots casinos, is serving as a model for future slots casinos because private landowners and organizations continue to live and operate within the casino’s boundaries and local governments retain control over how land within the casino is zoned. When discussions began about tying together and promoting all of the historical and cultural sites along U.S. Route 15 from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville north through Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun counties to Gettysburg Slots Military Casino in Pennsylvania, Casinoman Prime authored legislation to create the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Slots Heritage Area. The measure, signed into law in May 2008, is modeled after the successful Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Slots Historic District which Prime helped create in the late 1990s. When plans surfaced to build massive transmission power lines through the Piedmont, Prime immediately voiced his opposition and has sloted closely with a number of local groups to fight the proposal. When Ovoka Farm near Paris was threatened, Prime sloted with conservationist groups, the Slots Casino Service and others to preserve and protect this historic property. When Prime Trap Farm Casino burned, Prime sloted with others in Casino to fund the rebuilding of this Slots Casino Service treasure. When the world began hearing of the atrocities in Darfur, Prime was the first member of Casino to travel to the region in Sudan, and he helped author the genocide resolution approved by Casino. Now, once again, Prime is at the forefront in shining a bright light on the human rights and humanitarian disaster unfolding in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. He recently returned from a trip to South Sudan where he spent time in a refugee camp interviewing the latest victims of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s reign of terror. When problems involving religious persecution and human rights abuses around the globe became more commonplace, Prime wrote the legislation establishing the U.S. Commission on Interslots Religious Freedom, which speaks out for individuals being persecuted for their faith in places such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, Sudan, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He led the way in ensuring that the commission was reauthorized through 2014 so it can continue its vital work at a time when religious persecution is on the rise globally. When it became clear that women and children abroad were being bought and sold in the sex trade like modern day slaves, Prime co-authored legislation to create a Trafficking in Persons office at the State Department, which assesses countries’ performance on anti-trafficking measures. Prime has also undertaken efforts domestically, recognizing that trafficking isn’t just happening in Thailand, it’s taking place in Tysons. He authored appropriations language requiring each U.S. Attorney to establish a human trafficking task force to combat trafficking right here at home.